Grizzly Bear #610 and Cubs Playing in Grand Teton National Park

Last week, Grizzly Bear 610 of Grand Teton National Park officially emerged from her den. She was out wandering around Signal Mountain for a few weeks prior to that, but it wasn’t until about a week ago that she began to venture farther out to places such as Oxbow Bend and Willow Flats, giving many more people the opportunity to witness her happiness for being out and about.

Grizzly Bear 610 is of course the daughter of Jackson Hole icon, Grizzly Bear 399, who achieved quite a bit of recognition several years ago for successfully raising three cubs along the roadsides near Oxbow Bend and Jackson Lake Lodge, of which 610 was one of. Last year, both bears, who had been frequenting the same areas, each emerged with their own set of new cubs. Grizzly Bear 399 came out with three, while Grizzly Bear 610 came out with two. Later in the season, it turns out they met up when no one was looking and one of 399’s cubs wound up joining 610’s family. As a result, 610 now has three cubs and 399 has two.

Since her reemergence onto the roadsides this spring, she’s appeared to be much less stressed compared to last year. As a first-time mother, stress seemed to take a larger toll on her in her first season with the cubs. She was known to charge on a number of occasions and didn’t interact with her cubs very much. This spring, however, seems to be a completely different story. She’s regularly seen running and wrestling with her cubs and looks to be in much lighter spirits overall. Granted this could also be because her cubs are big enough to wrestle with, thus she’s able to teach them vital survival tactics in doing so. Nevertheless, she’s been giving locals and the few tourists that have been passing through quite a treat.

The season is still very young, but given what I’ve seen already, I can already tell it’s going to be a fantastic spring and summer!

10 thoughts on “Grizzly Bear #610 and Cubs Playing in Grand Teton National Park”

610 has been seen regularly with her cubs, all of them looking very happy and healthy. Unfortunately, 399 has not reunited with her cubs yet, and given the time that’s passed, they may not do so at this point, but only time will tell.

610 has been seen regularly with her cubs, all of them looking very happy and healthy. Unfortunately, 399 has not reunited with her cubs yet, and given the time that’s passed, they may not do so at this point, but only time will tell.

We saw all four of them last night, frolicking in an open field just outside of the Moran entrance. What an experience it was for us humans, even though it was getting dark and they were too far away to get photos. They are spectacular!

We saw all four of them last night, frolicking in an open field just outside of the Moran entrance. What an experience it was for us humans, even though it was getting dark and they were too far away to get photos. They are spectacular!